Thorogood Hellfire™ Black Hornet Fireboot Sole Offers Outstanding Traction and Safety with Custom-Designed Vibram Fire Sole
INDIANAPOLIS-- Thorogood, a division of Weinbrenner Shoe Company, presents the newest addition to the Hellfire line, a state-of-the-art fireboot offering lightweight comfort with heavy duty features and an exclusively engineered Vibram sole for outstanding traction and safety under even the most extreme conditions. The new Black Hornet boot will be displayed at the annual FDIC fire industry conference and exhibition, held this year in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 20-25, 2009. The boot will be available at retail April 2009.
“Slip resistance under extreme conditions has been one of the greatest challenges for the firefighter,” explained Patrick Miner, Weinbrenner vice president of sales and marketing. “We’ve partnered with Vibram to feature an exclusive chiseled edge designed sole, giving firefighters the safety, security and confidence they need to focus on and perform their job in top form.”
The Black Hornet boot, part of the Hellfire line, features sharply chiseled leading sole edges to deliver maximum slip resistance on wet ice and other extremely slippery conditions. Varied lug depths with grooves on the lug surfaces provide traction on debris and patterned shank bars provide traction on ladder rungs. The sole also incorporates the Vibram FIRE compound for NFPA-level protection and durability.
In a laboratory test comparing several competitive brands, the Hellfire boot was the most stable boot on ice.
The boot’s new fabric shaft, made of Kevlar® and Nomex®, provides a lightweight, more effective alternative to leather. The L-Protection five-layer fabric insole is as puncture-resistant as a metal midsole plate but reduces weight significantly. A reinforced leather shin guard offers additional protection. 3M® reflective piping delivers increased visibility and an oblique toe box provides improved comfort. The suggested retail price for the Thorogood Hellfire Black Hornet fireboot is $275.
“Keeping firefighters stable and safe was our primary objective in designing the new Hellfire Black Hornet sole for Thorogood, and we put to work all of our decades of expertise in designing soles for work, outdoors and recreation to deliver maximum performance for these Thorogood fireboots,” said Kevin Donahue, president and CEO of Quabaug Corporation, North American manufacturer of Vibram products. “It is very rewarding to help outfit the brave men and women who will wear these boots.”
To learn more about these new fireboots and the Hellfire line of leather fire boots, visit www.weinbrennerusa.com.
About Thorogood Shoes by Weinbrenner
The Thorogood Division of Weinbrenner offers work boots for men and women of law enforcement, military, postal service, public safety and industrial and outdoor professions. Weinbrenner Shoe Company has been both a leading manufacturer and a pioneering force in the American footwear industry since beginning operations in 1892, initiating many of the safety and job-fitted design elements that are common today. Weinbrenner is an employee-owned company headquartered in Merrill, Wisconsin and is an ISO 9001 certified shoe company. For more information, visit www.weinbrennerusa.com.
About Vibram
Vibram® is a registered trademark of Vibram S.p.A of Italy. Vibram is recognized worldwide as the leader in high performance soles for work, outdoor, recreational and fashion footwear. Quabaug Corporation of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, is the North American manufacturer of Vibram products under exclusive license. For more information, visit www.vibram.com.